Matchday 36

[Fryer Tuck]

Saturday, 9 May 2015
21:45 Everton v Sunderland

Sunday, 10 May 2015

00:00 Aston Villa v West Ham

00:00 Hull v Burnley

00:00 Leicester v Southampton

00:00 Newcastle v West Brom

00:00 Stoke v Spurs

02:30 Crystal Palace v Man Utd

20:30 Man City v QPR

Monday, 11 May 2015
01:00 Chelsea v Liverpool

Tuesday, 12 May 2015
05:00 Arsenal v Swansea


Some big clashes for the relegation battle, all happening around the same time. The other teams will be on high alert as Sunderland have a good chance to really shake up the battle if they win. This is one mini league were you don't want to finish bottom (though 2nd bottom is OK).

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Do us a solid Chelsea....

United get Carrick back and thus a 2-1 win will follow.

 

[SM]

With my amber and black lasses on I think Hull v Burnley is almost game of the round. Certainly has more significance on it than any other game I think.

 

[Thistle]

Looking forward to the guard of honour from Gerrard, Rodgers and co.

 

[Jatz]

Everton Sunderland is a good early game. Come on Toffees, smash them please.

I have no idea what to expect with Southampton. We're in good form but they're definitely the better squad.

 

[chef]

Chels/Pool my favorite games of the season.

Can't see us taking the foot off the accelerator just yet.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Chels/Pool my favorite games of the season.

Can't see us taking the foot off the accelerator just yet.

you better feckin not!!!

 

[elhadjihenry]

Chels/Pool my favorite games of the season.

Can't see us taking the foot off the accelerator just yet.

With the title wrapped up I imagine you might cut loose a bit, could be a very open game.

 

[SM]

Everton Sunderland is a good early game. Come on Toffees, smash them please.

I have no idea what to expect with Southampton. We're in good form but they're definitely the better squad.

If Sunderland lose that I'd almost - ALMOST - say we're safe regardless of Burnley result. Can't see you guys letting up, Arsenal will want to finish strongly, and Chelsea will want to unveil trophy with a win.

 

[chef]

If Sunderland lose that I'd almost - ALMOST - say we're safe regardless of Burnley result. Can't see you guys letting up, Arsenal will want to finish strongly, and Chelsea will want to unveil trophy with a win.

We don't get the trophy until after our last game.

 

[SM]

We don't get the trophy until after our last game.

Yeah sorry I was running through Sunderland's fixtures and they play you in the last game. So I was suggesting you'll want to beat Sunderland when you lift the trophy.

 

[Jatz]

If Sunderland lose that I'd almost - ALMOST - say we're safe regardless of Burnley result. Can't see you guys letting up, Arsenal will want to finish strongly, and Chelsea will want to unveil trophy with a win.

Yeah I'm concerned about us losing at the SOL.

Stupid Leicester. Even when we're in great form, they've programmed me to think they'll fail.

 

[SM]

Yeah I'm concerned about us losing at the SOL.

Stupid Leicester. Even when we're in great form, they've programmed me to think they'll fail.

I feel like most sides like ours are like that, even though their supporters think it's unique to their club. We always seem to end teams' poor runs of form - your win against us in December, Burnley's first win of the season, Palace's first win of the season last year etc. - so can't help but have a sense of trepidation about Burnley.

I can't see your lot letting up though, think you'll steam roll Sunderland. I think the Southampton win was a dead cat bounce.

 

[ADL9798]

Looking forward to the guard of honour from Gerrard, Rodgers and co.

Yeah good to hear Rodgers say that we'll be going ahead with that, it's a bitter pill but it's the right and respectful thing to do.

On that note, I would hope that the home support will be showing a similar amount of class & respect to Gerrard if and when he takes the field on Saturday in what will be his last visit to Stamford Bridge, as we did for Zola in his last game at Anfield. Not going to hold my breath on that one.

 

[chef]

Im sure they'll have a special song for Stevie

 

[ADL9798]

Yep. Probably probably a bit naive of me to set the bar that high

 

[chef]

Yep. Probably probably a bit naive of me to set the bar that high

Probably is mate. I dont see why we'd need to(give Gerrard a hero's goodbye) to be honest, but I'm sure some fans will and others won't.

 

[elhadjihenry]

Probably is mate. I dont see why we'd need to(give Gerrard a hero's goodbye) to be honest.

Agreed, its not like he is a war hero, he has been paid exorbitant amounts of money over the years to play sport. Doubt anyone but Liverpool fans will give him any kind of reaction and nor should they.

 

[Tulip]

Everyone loved Zola anyway, can we say the same about Gerrard? Not for me.

 

[chef]

Everyone loved Zola anyway, can we say the same about Gerrard? Not for me.

Agree, Zola was universally loved. Gerrard's not.

 

[Cruyff14]

5am. * off.

 

[Jatz]

5am. **** off.

That's the best timeslot for a weekday game. Can get up and watch it before I head off to work.

 

[ADL9798]

Probably is mate. I dont see why we'd need to(give Gerrard a hero's goodbye) to be honest, but I'm sure some fans will and others won't.

Similarly we don't need to give Chelsea a guard of honour on Saturday, but I think that we should because I think it's important to show class and respect to our opponents when they've earnt it.

It's a strange one, I have to say I haven't seen a player of that sort of standing cop such an undeserved lack of respect so universally in their final season as Gerrard has this year. Other than classic English tall poppy syndrome it's difficult to see where it comes from.

In any case, for me it's not about loving the player. We didn't give Zola an ovation in his last game because he was a nice guy, otherwise Mata would get one every week! We gave him an ovation because of his consistently excellent performances and the fact that over a 7 year period he won just about everything you could win (with the exception of the league). I've given ovations (both at Anfield and here in Australia) to plenty of players I don't like over the years. My uncle was at Anfield when we gave a standing ovation to the entire Arsenal team after they won the league at our place on the final day. It's about respecting your adversary (particularly if we know their time is up) because of what they've achieved and contributed to the game over an extended period.

I guess we'll see how the Stamford Bridge faithful react on Saturday. While I'm certainly not expecting a tifo to be unveiled at the Shed End or any other grand gestures; after 700+ appearances and over 17 years in the game, not kicking him at this stage by singing that song (particularly after you've won the league and the fight is over) shouldn't be too much to ask. It'd show an enormous amount of disrespect to a player who has done more than most to earn that respect, and would be a bit petty to be honest. I'm sure Jose would agree.

 

[Rustin Cohle]

Chelsea should give Gerrard a guard of honour for his bullet header in the 05 League Cup final and his lovely assist to Drogba in 2010.

 

[Thistle]

Why would we give Gerrard a standing ovation when:

- It's not the last game of the season
- It's not his last game in the EPL
- He agreed to sign with us but backflipped